The present invention relates to computers, and more specifically to housings for computers with retractable covers for protecting expansion bays at the front of the housings.
Computers have external housings that protect the delicate and sophisticated electronic and optical components in most desktop and laptop computers. The housings generally have a metal chassis and a plastic cover around the chassis. Several computer components, such as control boards, power supplies, hard disk drives and fans, are enclosed by the housing. Other computer components, such as CD ROMS and floppy disk drives, are accessible to a user through openings in the housing. Most computers also have at least one expansion bay for receiving zip-drives, tape backup drives and other expansion components that customize a computer for a specific user.
The expansion bays are typically protected by detachable covers that snap into the housing. Although snap-type covers protect the computers from inadvertently inserting foreign objects in the expansion bays, these covers are easily misplaced after they have been detached from the housing. Snap-type covers can also be easily damaged because they generally have plastic connectors that may break if the covers are twisted as they are detached from the housing. As such, snap-type covers may be lost or broken over the life of the computer.
Another type of cover is a pivoting door that rotates from a closed position to an open position. In the closed position, the pivoting door is the generally flush with the front panel of the housing. But, in the open position, the pivoting door projects outwardly from the front panel for almost the full length of the door. Such pivoting doors may be broken or otherwise detached from the housing in the open position because users are apt to inadvertently bump or strike the doors while moving in front of the computer. Therefore, existing pivoting door-type expansion bay covers may be easily broken.
The present invention is directed toward computer housings with retractable covers for covering expansion bays or other openings. In one embodiment, a computer housing includes a casing, a front bezel attached to the casing, and a retractable cover system attached to the casing and/or the front bezel. The casing can have a side structure with a first side and a second side, and a front structure spanning across a front portion of the side structure. The front structure generally has a plurality of permanent drive bays and at least one expansion bay. The front bezel generally has a plurality of openings that fit over the permanent drive bays and at least one expansion bay aperture for the expansion bay.
The retractable cover system is slidably attached to the casing and/or the front bezel to selectively cover the expansion bay aperture. The cover system, for example, can include an internal track in the front bezel and/or along the side structure. The cover system can also include a movable cover that slides between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the cover closes the expansion bay aperture. In the second position, the cover is received within one of the front bezel or the casing to open the expansion bay aperture. The cover, for example, can be a panel, a flexible sheet or other types of doors having a first edge with a first nub and a second edge with a second nub. The first and second nubs can be slidably received in the track to slide between the first and second positions. The retractable cover system can also include a securing element attached to the front bezel to releasably hold the cover in the second position.
The internal track can have several configurations. In one embodiment, the track includes a first rail with an elongated first groove and a second rail with an elongated second groove. The first rail can extend rearwardly from the front bezel along the first side of the casing, and the second rail can extend rearwardly from the front bezel along the second side of the casing. The first groove generally faces the second groove across a gap between the first and second sides of the casing. In this embodiment, the rails each include a pivot recess proximate to the front bezel. The nubs of the cover are received in the pivot recesses when the cover is in the first position, and the nubs are received within the groove of the rail when the cover is in the second position. In operation, the cover is generally coplanar with the front bezel in the first position, but the cover is retracted within the casing or the front bezel in the second position.